Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Near the Mouth of the Connecticut

We put in on the back channel of the Connecticut River, not more than a half mile from the sea. This spot is known for the number of osprey that one can see and from the launch there are twenty-some nests in sight. But, the osprey are gone for the season.

Near Great Island

K lives not far up the Blackhall River, which comes in just a hundred yards or so from here. She is an artist friend of mine and this is one of those bonding canoe trips that I take my art buddies out on.

I steer us upriver into some waters that she's not been in. The tide is out, but it is not a particularly low low tide, so there is enough water all along the route. We pass the Watch Rocks without seeing too many birds...a few great blue herons and a docile pair of yellow legs that let us pass close.

In the Lieutenant River

We continue up the Lieutenant River, which I tell K is probably one of the best three mile long rivers in the state. It is actually longer, but the upper mileage is not canoeable.

It is a fairly spectacular fall day.

At the top of the paddling in the Lieutenant River

This time of the year is quiet when it comes to birds. It is in the top of the Lieutenant that we find the most birds, a family of seven mute swans, a flock of Canada geese, a few golden eye ducks, some kingfishers and some common mergansers.

We return with the wind in our face and a gentle flood current against us. But that just makes the trip last a bit longer...

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The Who, What, and Why

The first 300+ entries in this blog were from the Seattle area on the west coast of North America. Starting with October 5, 2012, my blog (and myself for that matter) has moved to Connecticut on the east coast. I have a lot to learn about my new home. I paddle solo most of the time, but I do take others on many trips. Photographs are shot from the canoe on the day of the trip. The writing is done by pencil and paper in the canoe.

I am an interdisciplinary artist creating content-driven and concept-driven artwork in a diverse selection of materials and themes with a very strong recent emphasis on nature and ecology. I was the Rubicon Foundation/Smoke Farm Artist in Residence for 2011-2012. I now live in Connecticut.